Dela!

Dela is a task runner that provides discovery for task definitions in various formats, and lets you execute tasks without specifying the runner while delegating their execution to your existing tools like make, npm, uv, and others.

Installation

Install dela from crates.io and initialize it to set up shell integration:

$ cargo install dela
$ dela init

The dela init command will:

• Add shell integration to handle "command not found" events
• Create a ~/.dela directory for configuration

Usage

Discovering tasks

List all available tasks in the current directory:

$ dela list

Running tasks

You can invoke a task just by its name from the shell via <task>. For example here build task is defined in Makefile and is invoked directly.

$ build

If you are running dela in a directory for the first time, it will ask you to put the task or the task definition file or the directory itself on the allowed list. This is because you might want to run dela in non fully trusted directories and cause inadvertent execution.

$ build
Running build from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile for the first time. Allow?
0) Allow one time
1) Allow build from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile
2) Allow any command from ~/Projects/dela/Makefile
3) Allow any command from ~/Projects/dela
4) Deny

You can also use dr to explicitly invoke dela:

$ dr build

Or use dela run for subshell execution:

$ dela run build

MCP Server

Dela includes an MCP (Model Context Protocol) server that allows AI assistants and editors to discover and execute tasks programmatically.

Setting Up MCP in Your Editor

$ dela mcp --init-cursor       # Cursor: .cursor/mcp.json
$ dela mcp --init-vscode       # VSCode: .vscode/mcp.json
$ dela mcp --init-codex        # OpenAI Codex: ~/.codex/config.toml
$ dela mcp --init-gemini       # Gemini CLI: ~/.gemini/settings.json
$ dela mcp --init-claude-code  # Claude Code: ~/.claude-code/settings.json

Starting the MCP Server Manually

$ dela mcp [--cwd <directory>]

The server communicates over stdio using JSON-RPC 2.0 and streams task output via logging notifications.

Available Tools

Tool	Description
list_tasks	List all available tasks with metadata (runner, availability, allowlist status)
status	List all currently running background tasks
task_start	Start a task by unique name with optional args/env/cwd
task_status	Get status for running instances of a specific task
task_output	Get the last N lines of output for a running task (by PID)
task_stop	Stop a running task by PID (SIGTERM + grace period + SIGKILL)

Security

The MCP server uses the same allowlist as the CLI (~/.dela/allowlist.toml). Tasks must be explicitly allowlisted to be executed via MCP. Use the regular dela CLI commands to manage allowlists.

Frequently Asked Questions

How does dela work?

dela uses your shell's command_not_found_handler to detect when you are trying to run a command that doesn't exist. It then scans the current working directory for task definition files and executes the appropriate task runner.

What happens if a task shares the same name with a command?

Then the bare command will be executed instead of the task. To execute the task, you can use dr <task_name> to bypass the shadowed command but still make use of dela's task runner disambiguation.

How do I add a new task?

You can add a new task by adding a new task definition file. The task definition file can be a Makefile, a pyproject.toml, or a package.json.

What shell environment are tasks executed in?

When executing bare tasks or via dr, tasks are executed in the current shell environment. When running tasks via dela run, tasks are executed in a subshell environment.

Which shell integrations are supported?

Currently, dela supports zsh, bash, fish, and PowerShell.

Which task runners are supported?

Currently, dela supports make, npm, pnpm, uv, poetry, Maven, Gradle, GitHub Actions, Docker Compose, CMake, Travis CI, just and task.

Which platforms are supported?

Currently, dela supports macOS and Linux.

What is the purpose of allowlists?

Allowlist are a typo protection feature, and not for security. Since dela relies on method missing functionality in your shell, typing a previously invalid command could turn into executing something unintended, which is what allowlists mean to prevent. When you download a repo from the internet and execute a task in it you need to be cognizant of its providence, just like you would with make or npm.

Is dela production ready?

dela is not at 0.1 yet and its cli is subject to change.

What are the alternatives to dela?

Other task runners that handle multiple runners are task-keeper and ds.

Development

For local development:

$ cargo install --path .
$ source resources/zsh.sh  # or equivalent for your shell

Testing MCP with Inspector

To test the MCP server interactively with the MCP Inspector:

# Build and run with Inspector
$ cargo build --quiet
$ RUST_LOG=warn npx @modelcontextprotocol/inspector ./target/debug/dela mcp

Testing

Run all tests:

$ make tests_integration

Run integrations test with test_shells, it requires Make, Docker, and dela to be installed.

$ tests_integration

Note: dela is not at 0.1 yet and its CLI is subject to change.